Mets Lose on a Walk-Off Walk

MILWAUKEE — The Mets’ A.J. Ramos entered the game with two outs and two runners on base in the bottom of the 10th inning of tie game. He threw nine pitches, and only one of them was a strike.

He walked two, including the walk-off walk of Travis Shaw that cost the Mets the game in a head-scratching, 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. In an extra-inning battle, the deeper and stronger Brewers bullpen outlasted the Mets.

In a bind, Mets Manager Mickey Callaway turned to two of his struggling relief pitchers, Jerry Blevins and Ramos, and neither could deliver.

After Robert Gsellman got two outs and gave up a single, Callaway called up Blevins. He allowed a single to Christian Yelich, the only batter he was asked to face. In came Ramos, who walked Hernan Perez and then Shaw.

The loss undermined the efforts of Jose Bautista, who tied the game with a two-out single in the ninth inning against the Brewers closer Corey Knebel. It also undermined the efficient pitching of starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who allowed three runs over six innings but was pulled early in favor of offense.

Both Ramos and Blevins have earned run averages over 5.00.

Before Friday’s game against the Brewers, Callaway commended Syndergaard’s improvement at limiting the base running of opponents. Despite his pitching talent, one of Syndergaard’s biggest weaknesses is a slow delivery to home plate that is susceptible to stolen bases.

A focus of the new coaching staff in spring training, Syndergaard has shaved off fractions of a second off his delivery this season. Entering Friday, only two pitchers in baseball had allowed more stolen bases than Syndergaard’s 10.

With catcher Devin Mesoraco behind the plate, Syndergaard surrendered two more stolen bases on Friday that led to key runs. Otherwise, Syndergaard was solid and efficient over six innings, striking out eight and allowing three runs.

But the same problem undermined the 25-22 Mets: their offense created little margin for error.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the third inning, Syndergaard allowed a single to Lorenzo Cain, the Brewers’ speedy center fielder. Cain got a good jump off first base against Syndergaard and beat Mesoraco’s throw to second. He promptly scored on a go-ahead single by Yelich.

Yelich followed Cain’s lead, but did not get as good of a jump off first base. He still beat Mesoraco’s throw and slid safely into second. Yelich then scored on a single by Shaw.

After that, Syndergaard shut down the Brewers. He needed only 78 pitches over six innings. Yet with little offensive support, Callaway pulled Syndergaard early.

When pinch-hitter Bautista drew a walk against the Brewers standout relief pitcher Josh Hader with two outs in the seventh inning, Callaway let the struggling backup infielder Jose Reyes, who was hitting .145, pinch-hit for Syndergaard. Reyes grounded out to end the inning.

The pitching decision did not backfire because the Mets relief pitcher Seth Lugo fired two scoreless innings. But it underscored the Mets’ current hitting woes and the lack of depth.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Could a Walk-Off Loss In May Be More Painful?. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe